


Foundling

by Kalira



Series: Dragonet's Den [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dragons, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Bathing/Washing, Captivity, Community: trope_bingo, Discord: Umino Hours, Dragons, Fire, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Orphans, Rescue, Telepathy, Trope Bingo Round 14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:28:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23408314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalira/pseuds/Kalira
Summary: Being captured by unscrupulous humans may be the worst thing that has happened in Naruto's short life - it certainly seems so from between the bars of the cage in which he has been trapped - but Naruto's bright, stubborn spirit won't be broken by it. Even when a deadly shadow falls over them all, dragonet and human alike. . .
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Umino Iruka & Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka
Series: Dragonet's Den [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683865
Comments: 24
Kudos: 303
Collections: The Umino Hours Quarantine Boredom Buster, Trope Bingo Round 14, Trope Bingo: Round Fourteen





	Foundling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yabakuboi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yabakuboi/gifts).



> This story (and a few other little scenes, which will join in the _series_ ; whoops) came about because of a wish Yaba made - I hope you like it! it's rather a mish-mash of things from your wishes - and I'm also using it to mark off the space 'telepathy/mind melds' on my [Trope Bingo board](https://kalira.dreamwidth.org/24550.html)!

Tipped out of the trap that had snared him, Naruto cried out immediately as the dizzying throb in his head began to ease, thrashing against the cage he was locked inside as they slammed it shut, puffing up and-

And even the fiercest breath of sparks he could stoke in his breast didn’t so much as smoulder when unleashed against the wood slats caging him inside. They didn’t bow to the force of his body beating against them, or his wings, which were painfully cramped. The harshest slashes of his claws and snaps of his jaws didn’t so much as break the smallest splinter from the cage.

Naruto struggled and fought and huffed brighter flames - more spark and heat than true dragonflame, all he could muster - as he heard the humans who had trapped him, _caught him_ , now _laughing at him_. A human wearing a richer, nicer brown shirt and trousers stepped forwards and raised his hands, dark hair ruffling as a sparkling wave sprang up around his arms and hands; Naruto cringed as it was flung at him and trembled when it began spreading thick ice over his bright scales.

Naruto wavered and sagged, head spinning. The cold was too much for him, and he fell into a weak sleep, feeling his heart slow and the fire in his breast dampen until it was guttering as consciousness slipped away.

For a moment, when he woke, Naruto forgot what had happened. He bounced to his paws and slammed immediately into the wood of his cage, giving a sharp cry of startled pain as he rattled in the too-small space. The hooked thumb of one wing caught between the slats as he tried to pull back and he whimpered.

There was more human laughter and Naruto, cringing in the bottom of the cage, opened his eyes again in furious slits, baring his fangs and roaring at them. A few of them jerked back, but one came closer, a bucket in his hands. He threw it over Naruto, cold, foul-smelling water saturating his fluffy crest and clinging stickily to his scales, and kicked his side before moving away.

More human laughter.

The kick had barely been painful - Naruto was tough and humans were weak - but that _sound_ . . . that Naruto was rapidly coming to hate. He tested his teeth against the cage again, though he knew it was magic and wouldn’t give. He couldn’t _not_ fight. He never would, and he told them so with snaps and snarls.

He snapped at any of them who came close enough and he struggled in the unforgiving bounds of the cage and he tried his best to burn off the foul liquid he had been doused in between times. And he _listened_. Human speech was difficult on his ears, but he listened, all the time. He heard they intended to make a spectacle of him, show him off and profit richly off it before they would, perhaps, sell him on to others. Naruto gathered they thought they could provoke a monetary fight between two humans over him.

Naruto roared his bitter fury and thrashed in his cage. To be caged and prodded and _bought_ , either by a human who kept an _exotic menagerie_ \- as though Naruto, a _dragon_ , even if a small one with no territory or den of his own, were a common stupid beast to be _owned_ or _tamed_ \- and would want him particularly for his bright scales and unusually contrasting eyes, or one who had rich tastes in ornaments and would peel his hide from his body and turn every bit of him - from hide to crest to fangs to _heart_ \- into something to adorn-

Naruto hissed and roared and fought, sparking and angry and- and _fruitless_ , against their cage and their magic, but he refused to give up.

Not until the mage cast his ice over Naruto again when he made it too difficult to haul the cage into their cart, and he fell into the coldsleep again, chest aching as his flame was forced low.

That first sleep was the last time Naruto _forgot_ where he was. He only rested when they cast the sparkling ice over him, and he awoke each time with a snarl already twisting his muzzle, a breath of sparks flying between his fangs.

Sometimes the humans jumped back when Naruto sprang into fierce awareness, but more and more they only laughed and taunted him, human speech he only half understood perhaps but enough to make his matted, filthy crest try to rise. Naruto snapped and huffed heated breaths at them, but. . .

Naruto had barely been allowed to eat and the horrid mage kept casting ice over him and dragons were strong, _he_ was strong - he never would have survived if he hadn’t been, chased off other dragons’ territories and making his way alone, always - but. . . He was weakening, day by day, long and rough.

He was beginning to lose track of the time he had spent in this cage, with these horrible humans all around him, their horrible voices in his ears. He was beginning to care less about the taunts, the prods and kicks, the shifting thuds as the cage was hauled onto the cart or back down to the earth, even the foul liquid or scraps they dumped on him.

The ice . . . that always drew a reaction, always _hurt_ as it raced over his scales. But then everything was quiet and faraway for a time. He could never be grateful for it, but the numbness took away all else, the only change there ever was inside this cage. Naruto was in one such between-space, not caught in the ice’s black grip but not yet able to wake, when he heard shouts of alarm and anger from the hated humans. A soft pulse of satisfaction, a faint warmth, rose in his breast, making the heartflame there rise a little. _Good._ Let them be angry, let them be _afraid_ , let them suffer, and Naruto would laugh at _them_ . . . even if whatever it was took him down, too.

Naruto stirred to sudden warmth and a crackling tension in the air, managing to slit one eye open enough to take in the huge shadow falling over the humans’ camp. A draconic shadow.

There was a chance, then, Naruto thought, his mind slow and sludgy with the remnants of the ice magic. A chance this other dragon, _older_ dragon would slaughter the humans or whatever else it was they had come for, but let Naruto be. There was a chance they would slaughter Naruto as well, for daring to be in their territory.

Naruto had come up against many older dragons, seen many-

A second shadow fell overlapping the first and Naruto shifted sluggishly, curling up tighter as best he could still half caught in coldsleep. A mated pair would never allow an interloper in their territory . . . and Naruto was in no shape to flee on his own, even were he free of this cage.

He found he almost didn’t care, as long as it meant an end to this cage and the endless laughter and ice and struggles against the unrelenting cage and. . . And as long as he saw the end of these humans who had so penned him. Naruto bared his fangs and huffed a low breath of heat.

_There you are!_

Naruto barely twitched at the new voice whispering through his mind, low and soft and deep.

_Keeping a dragonet like this. . ._

Naruto bared his teeth again, huffing.

 _Focus!_ The second voice was a louder snap, angry and abrupt, and the paired shadows on the ground shivered. Naruto watched with a huff of laughter as the ice mage, suddenly beneath the shadow of wide wings, turned and flung his hands high, his sparkling magic flowing through the air. It met with a crash of flame so hot it was a deep blue, instantly eaten away, and the mage screamed - but only for an instant before he fell silent, and he fell, the flames searing the earth where he lay.

Naruto didn’t hear any landing, but suddenly there was a shadow close over _him_ , and he squeaked as he tilted his head, barely able to move, weak and cold. A great silver shape leaned close above the wooden slats topping the cage, and he whimpered, ears lying flat. That intense blue flame would even burn a dragon, if it was turned on them fiercely enough.

 _It’s all right, drakelet. I won’t hurt you._ the great silver dragon said, a warm whisper through his mind, and Naruto uncurled a little, looking up again, cautious and uncertain. He flinched as he was met with the sight of huge fangs, but they snapped on the wood of his cage- and it held.

Naruto laughed weakly at the expression on the dragon’s face as he backed off, tongue flicking out and jaw working, muzzle twisted and one ear flicked back by his slender, sweeping horns. The dragon tilted his head and looked at Naruto with one crimson eye and Naruto squeaked, tail curling tighter to his body.

 _I **won’t** hurt you,_ the dragon said, tipping his head. He flicked his tongue out again and the forked tip slipped over Naruto’s brow just beneath the end of his crest, fur plastered flat to his scales; the first gentle touch he had felt in. . . In far longer than the weeks - or was it longer? - he had spent in this cage.

_Koibito! . . .are you about done, surely that lot can’t be offering much response any more. . ._

_What!_ the other dragon snapped back, almost a roar in Naruto’s mind and echoed by one in his ears; Naruto whimpered, ducking his head.

The silver dragon snapped his fangs, snarling. _Dragonet!_ His own voice was a little harsher in return. _And . . . he’s stuck, koibito. Bring your tricky mind over here to get him out, would you?_

Naruto’s ears tipped towards the sounds of crackling flame and crumbling wood - there weren’t many _human_ sounds any longer. There was the soft pad of draconic steps instead and then a dragon with shimmery, deep bronze scales leaned over the cage as well, even brighter bronze eyes lighting on Naruto as he whimpered again.

 _Oh, you poor little one. . ._ The voice was softer this time, and the great head bowed closer. There were sky blue rings flaring outward like soft flames around the slit pupils, Naruto saw, and there was an almost golden streak across the top of his muzzle. _How is he stuck, darling?_

The silver dragon huffed, with a slender tongue of blue flame, and set one paw against the cage, claws curling around it, pressed to the wood. It gave. Slightly. _Stuck, koibito._ the warm voice flitted through Naruto’s mind again. _I could break it, but not with the dragonet **inside**. Not safely._ He bowed his head and nuzzled along his mate’s muzzle. _But you. . ._ he all but crooned.

The bronze dragon laughed, and _that_ sound was warm and sweet. Naruto’s heart fluttered. The bronze dragon returned his mate’s affectionate gesture, then pushed him aside and circled the cage as he moved easily away, nosing at it and huffing, claws skating over the wood in places. The bronze dragon muttered and growled above him, but Naruto - slowly growing warmer, both from the fading of the ice magic and the proximity of the two much-older dragons - didn’t flinch this time, only turned to watch him as he moved around and around, investigating.

Then he rose, eyes blazing bright, and opened his jaws. Naruto’s eyes widened and his wings curled tight against his body as though they would be much shelter. Was the dragon going to breathe _fire_ on him?

A thin, high chirruping sound spilled from between his fangs instead, making Naruto’s crest tingle, and the wood . . . _thrummed_. A sharp blow from the bronze dragon’s tail to the side of the cage behind Naruto’s back, and his paws pulling fiercely at the side before Naruto’s muzzle, and-

The cage _fell apart_ , nothing more than a shower of so many splinters. Naruto gasped, his heart racing and eyes wide, and his wings snapped out for the first time in what felt like _seasons_ as he sprang shakily to his paws, legs trembly and weak as he stretched them out and they took his weight properly. His body ached and he struggled to breathe, feeling like he might fall, feeling like he might _soar straight into the sky_ without even a single wingbeat, feeling-

_Oh! Careful, watch-_

Naruto’s world went black as he collapsed, vaguely thinking there was something warm, _so warm_ . . . and then nothing.

Naruto woke with a sharp snarl and a snap of his fangs, but he stilled, the snarl fading swiftly as he recognised the warmth all around him, the softness he rested upon, the _stretch_ of his aching wings. . . He opened his eyes a little more, breathing in, and scented the rich, tangy warmth of dragon - and _only_ dragon, no human scents, no ice, no _human magic_.

He was nestled close against deep brown fur, a thick crest, and rested on dark bronze scales, cradled in the cup made of a larger dragon’s body. His wings were drawn out rather than resting snug against his body, but it felt . . . _good_ , after so long with them folded tight and unable to so much as stretch them. They lay over the older dragon’s side, his heat soaking into them.

_Hello, little one!_

Naruto looked up into eyes that shaded from sky blue - paler than his own - to brilliant bronze, and a smiling muzzle. He shifted a little, ears perking.

 _. . .hello?_ Naruto returned cautiously, and shivered as the great dragon bowed his head lower, nuzzling Naruto gently.

_How do you feel?_

_He probably feels dreadful, he had to have spent ages in that little box._ The low voice of the silver dragon all but shivered through Naruto’s mind, and then his gleaming scales came into view like pieces of moonlight caught into physical being, a silvery-bright eye peeking down at Naruto. _He’s filthy, too. Now that you’re awake, we can get you clean again._

The silver dragon bent his head, his sharp muzzle nudging Naruto’s flank gently.

Naruto stretched out his neck, feeling very . . . small. And delicate. But they were so _warm_ , and even their nudges didn’t hurt, careful and slow.

 _What’s your name, little one?_ the bronze dragon asked, tilting his head, his fluffy crest tipping sideways as he moved.

Naruto wriggled. _Naruto!_ he said, and tipped his head up, letting out a little trumpet of a cry. _I’m always alone but I take care of myself!_

Blue-bronze eyes flicked over Naruto and he ducked his head again. _Is that so, little one?_

 _Everyone needs someone to help sometimes._ the silver dragon said in his low rumble, and Naruto ducked down, whimpering. He had never _had_ someone. _No family, drakelet?_ The silver dragon’s muzzle passed over his back, nudging the base of one wing.

 _Never._ Naruto said in a small voice.

The pair bent their heads together, then gently urged Naruto to get up, helping him slide from his cosy place upon bronze scales to the rocky floor of the cave they were in.

 _Well, now you have us._ the bronze dragon told him as though it was an undeniable fact, and smiled at him again, nosing one of his ears. _I’m Iruka._

The silver dragon’s paws passed gently over Naruto’s wings, helping him stretch them and then tuck them in against his back so they didn’t drag the ground. It distracted Naruto from _now you have us_ , but the words flitted about his mind - what . . . what did that mean, what were they offering, why- Why hadn’t they _hurt_ Naruto, or tried to drive him off? They were a mated pair and pairs _never_ allowed incursions. If Naruto didn’t heal so well he would have scars from the mated pairs who had driven him off, barely showing the mercy not to kill him outright - so long as he could run fast and far enough.

 _. . . mannerless, but he’s Kakashi._ Iruka said, with a little huff that provoked rumbling laughter from his mate. Naruto giggled despite himself.

A bright eye looked down at him and Kakashi smiled, sharp and sly, like he was sharing a secret with Naruto. There was blue in his eye as well, Naruto saw - though he remembered, in a muddled flash, a fiery crimson eye staring at him through the slats of the cage - but it was a bright white-blue like lightning, and shot through the liquid silver of his iris rather than blended like a building fire, like Iruka’s.

 _You and Iruka are **both** rather dirty now . . . why don’t you go get **clean** ,_ Kakashi said, nudging Naruto gently towards Iruka as he rose with a low groan, stretching, his tail curling up towards his back, perky tuft fluffing outwards even more, _and when you’re all clean I’ll have something for you to eat._

Naruto perked up, looking between them. _Food?_

 _After you get clean._ Iruka said firmly, almost prim. Kakashi nudged Naruto’s flank again and Naruto moved closer to Iruka, who smoothed a paw over his shoulder and neck, gently light. _This is dreadful, but it won’t take too long to get it all off you, and Kakashi will bring you back something to eat in the meantime._ he promised.

Naruto obediently followed Iruka, who moved slowly and carefully, supporting Naruto when he wobbled, taking them deeper into the cave. They passed into a narrower passageway, and Naruto’s eye was caught by an alcove _filled_ with scrolls, many of them with fancy jikusaki. After that Naruto tried to peek in subtly as they passed other alcoves, but it took much of his focus just to _walk_. He sighed and leaned against Iruka, panting.

Iruka lay down, surprising him, and Naruto lifted his head just in time to see Iruka bow his own, gently nudging at Naruto until he let himself rest against Iruka’s broad, warm side. He melted into the offered heat and support, putting his head down and breathing deeply.

 _Take it slow, little one._ Iruka said gently. _You’ve been through a lot. We have all the time you need._

It took Naruto two more breaks to rest before they made it to a large space deep in the cave system that held a huge pool of water. Naruto stilled, staring at it. It was _steaming_ , he realised. _Warm?_ he asked, leaning a little into Iruka, against his left foreleg.

 _Kakashi does enjoy his lazy pleasures._ Iruka told him with an amused murmur, then paused, head bent towards Naruto. _But he claimed this place for me. He doesn’t like to fight except for others. Me. You._ He nudged Naruto’s side and he startled. _When it’s important._

Naruto stirred, then ducked his head, remaining silent.

 _Come along. Into the water. The heat will do you as much good as being clean._ Iruka tutted, even though Naruto _did_ feel warm, now, after being held cosy against Iruka. When he started moving, slow and wobbly, Iruka all but carried Naruto down into the water.

It was indeed warm - a deep heat that seeped down into his bones, letting the flame in his breast begin to stoke higher again.

Iruka’s deft paws swept water over him, and Naruto shivered, a long-forgotten purr rising in his throat as the heat of the water soaked into him and Iruka’s claws washed out his crest, carefully combing the tangled fur smooth once more.

 _I. . . I’m not important._ Naruto thought, remembering Iruka’s words about Kakashi, and Iruka growled softly, bending his neck and curving it around until he was looking Naruto in the face.

 _You **are**._ Iruka told him firmly, eyes a little fierce.

 _I never have been._ Naruto shook himself, sinking lower in the water. It lapped against his face, nearly up over his eyes. _Not to anyone._

 _Well you are now. To us._ Iruka’s words were firm and brooked no resistance as he returned to washing Naruto with gentle, insistent paws. Naruto wriggled tentatively into the touches, and Iruka purred softly, stroking all the way down Naruto’s back to his tail, tugging gently at the tufted tip and making him giggle. Iruka nuzzled him, paws smoothing over his scales once more, then slowly urged him up out of the water. Naruto startled when he realised Kakashi was lounging there near the water’s edge, utterly relaxed like so much quicksilver puddled on the sandy cave floor; how had Naruto _missed_ a huge, silver dragon coming into the space?

Kakashi crooned as he rose with a slow and languid stretch, then beckoned Naruto to himself.

Iruka remained in the pool, washing himself - Naruto realised Iruka had all but solely focused on bathing _him_ , and ducked his head, ears pressing flat - while Kakashi turned his muzzle on Naruto, opening his jaws. Naruto froze. Kakashi breathed a wave of toasty warmth over him, drying his crest in several passes and combing through it with a light touch, then moving on to gently buff his scales.

Naruto was rolling under his paws, purring, by the time Iruka joined them. He had forgotten, if he ever knew, the pleasure of someone else tending his scales this way, buffing until they shone, sharing warmth and cosy space.

 _Don’t fall asleep again yet, little one._ Iruka nudged him gently, and Kakashi tickled his belly, making him jerk with a giggle, tail lashing. _Darling, did you-_

 _Waiting for the dragonet in the antechamber._ Kakashi tipped his muzzle up and brushed it against Iruka’s. _Hungry, mm?_ He tilted his head back to look at Naruto.

Naruto rolled over, his stomach aching. _Hungry!_ He couldn’t quite hold it back.

Kakashi laughed, and Naruto saw now that one of his eyes was gleaming silver and lightning blue, and the other was bloody crimson, with a faintly paler scar crossing his face from above the brow ridge almost to his lip. Naruto eyed it warily.

The older dragons nudged him onwards, and Naruto let himself be moved, feeling warmer and cleaner and more relaxed than he could ever remember.

His eyes widened and his stomach almost cramped as he was ushered into the antechamber Kakashi must have meant and found what Kakashi had brought for. . .

 _For me?_ Naruto asked, balking as Kakashi nudged him towards the food.

 _Eat._ Kakashi confirmed, and Naruto was too hungry to resist any longer, however nervous he was. He sank his fangs into the boar closest to him, only distractedly aware of Kakashi and Iruka’s voices behind him as the rich blood burst over his tongue.

 _You brought more food than there is dragonet, darling._ Iruka laughed, and Naruto crunched into the thick leg bone as he reached it, growling, tongue digging out thick marrow.

 _He’s a very hungry dragonet. And still growing._ Kakashi returned as Naruto moved to a new angle, tearing into a fresh stretch of meat.

He lifted his head when he finished the boar, hesitating. His stomach ached a little from eating so much, so fast, but he was _still hungry_ , and Naruto knew how far he could push his stomach. He’d had to know to survive on his own, gorging when he could and living lean when he couldn’t. Now? He could still eat. And there was _lots_ more food. . .

Kakashi and Iruka were curled together in a loose crescent, Kakashi’s head resting on Iruka’s shoulders, jaw nestled in his fluffy dark crest. _Go on_ , Kakashi urged him, with a slow, lazy blink, _for you, drakelet._

Naruto took Kakashi’s urging as truth this time and continued to stuff himself until he was risking illness and felt he could barely move, slouched half-inside the carcass of an ox. He twitched, surprised, when he wasn’t simply left there, but instead scooped up in warm paws.

 _You’re fine, little one._ Iruka soothed, carrying him off somewhere. Naruto couldn’t quite be stirred enough to pay mind to where they were going, this time . . . not only too tired, but trusting that it would be well, cradled in Iruka’s hold.

He lifted his head a little as Iruka settled down, finding himself this time tucked close into the curve of Iruka’s body, nestled between his legs and hemmed in by the larger, leaner curve of Kakashi’s body shadowing them both. A gentle brush from two muzzles and Naruto found himself safely walled in between those far larger bodies, huge wings rustling above him, able to relax in the heat they offered.

Naruto stretched out his neck with a soft croon, resting his head across Iruka’s foreleg and sighing as he closed his eyes once more.


End file.
